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FanHouse 15: No. 2 Alex Rodriguez

Filed under: Yankees, MLB Video

It may seem like just weeks ago that the baseball season ended, but, believe it or not, Spring Training is here.

If you're like the rest of us at FanHouse, you can't wait for the season to begin, but we've got you covered until opening day arrives.

It's the FanHouse 15, a countdown of the 15 most talked about, blogged about, tweeted about, sensational stars of America's pastime.

Who will be number one?

The list continues with No. 2, the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez.

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/28/fanhouse-15-no-2-alex-rodriguez/

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Doug Williams Going Back to Grambling, Leaving UFL Behind

At first glance, Doug Williams' return to Grambling State as head football coach seems like a great move for the longtime NFL quarterback and Super Bowl XXII Most Valuable Player.

It sounds like less than good news for the UFL, which Williams leaves after exactly eight months as the general manager of the Virginia Destroyers, the Norfolk-based team scheduled to begin play this fall.

The UFL announced Williams' departure Monday morning in a press release, in which Williams was quoted: "I was looking forward to working with the Destroyers, but this is a great opportunity for me and it is very rare that a father gets to coach his son at the college football level ... I went to school there, I coached there, and now I have a great opportunity to coach there again."

Williams' son, Doug III (known as D.J.), also a quarterback, committed to Grambling last month.

Grambling had been looking for a head coach since Rod Broadway left for North Carolina A&T earlier this month. Williams, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy race as a Grambling senior in 1977, replaced retiring Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson in 1998 and had a 52-18 record in six seasons. Grambling went 9-2 under Broadway last season.

Williams left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' front office to become the UFL expansion team's general manager last June 21. In September, after speaking at a charity golf event in Norfolk to promote the team, Williams told FanHouse that he saw the job as the next logical step in his football career, in which he aspired to be in charge of an entire organization.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/21/doug-williams-going-back-to-grambling-leaving-ufl-behind/

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Brad Boyes Traded to Sabres

Filed under: Blues, Sabres, Eastern, Western, Trade Deadline

The Buffalo Sabres have made an addition to their offense as they push for an Eastern Conference playoff spot, acquiring forward Brad Boyes from St. Louis.

The Blues got a second-round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft in return for Boyes, who scored 12 goals and tallied 41 points in 62 games for St. Louis.

Boyes has been a top goal-scorer for the Blues before, scoring 76 goals in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. He was held to 14 goals last season.

After a miserable start to the season, Buffalo has stormed back within two points of the East's final playoff spot, currently held by Carolina. The Blues are seven points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference after losing to Calgary 1-0 Sunday night.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/28/brad-boyes-traded-to-sabres/

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Broncos, Cardinals, Redskins Struggled to Pick Up Blitzes

Filed under: NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Analysis

There's nothing scarier for a quarterback than an unblocked pass rusher.

If you were a quarterback for the Broncos, Redskins or Cardinals in 2010, you had plenty of reasons to be frightened.

Denver, Washington and Arizona were the only NFL teams to reach double digits in unblocked sacks.

There are a couple of ways that a blitzer can pick up the easiest of easy sacks. The simplest explanation is that confusion along the offensive line (or among running backs assigned for blitz pickup) lets someone come free even though the blocking scheme should have accounted for him. On other plays, especially if the defense calls a corner blitz, the unblocked blitzer is the responsibility of the quarterback and wide receivers -- the quarterback has to recognize it and the receiver has to break off his route so that the QB can get rid of the ball before the blitzer arrives.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/broncos-cardinals-redskins-struggled-to-pick-up-blitzes/

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Cavs' Trade for Baron Davis Was All About the Draft Pick

Filed under: Cavaliers, Clippers, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- What does a rebuilding team do when it wants draft picks to help recover from the departure of the league's two-time MVP? It trades another of its popular players for a first-round pick, and agrees to take on almost $28 million in salary for an aging, oft-injured point guard.

Such is the fate of the Cleveland Cavaliers that it celebrated a trade Thursday that took point guard Baron Davis from his home in Los Angeles and dropped him in Cleveland in the middle of winter. Davis goes from playing on the same team as Blake Griffin to joining a 10-47 team.

And the Cavs were exultant -- because they acquired a first-round draft pick that will give them two lottery picks this summer. They said they were happy about acquiring Davis, too, but sending Mo Williams and Jamario Moon to the Clippers was much more about getting that first-round draft pick.

"Our scouting department just got a little busier, which is a good thing," said GM Chris Grant.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/02/24/cavs-trade-for-baron-davis-was-all-about-the-draft-pick/

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Marc Staal's Injury Puts Pressure on Young Rangers Defense

Filed under: Rangers

WASHINGTON, D.C -- When the New York Rangers face off against the Washington Capitals Friday night at Verizon Center they'll be doing so without a key member of the NHL's youngest -- and most inexperienced -- defensive core.

All-Star Marc Staal will miss his first game after playing 247 straight, having suffered a twisted left knee in the Rangers' last game against Carolina.

Yet Rangers coach John Tortorella makes no excuses -- and in speaking to the media after New York's morning skate, he expressed confidence in a group that ranks sixth in goals against, namely 21-year-old Ryan McDonagh, a rookie whom he will promote to Staal's spot on the top defensive pairing Friday night.

"It doesn't surprise me, it excites the hell out of me," Tortorella said of McDonagh's development. "The way this kid skates -- not just top-end speed but just his quickness, it's a really good thing here. ... We knew he was playing well (before being promoted to the NHL in early January), we knew he improved, but we weren't sure as he went through here, no one can really be sure. I think he's really stepped in a done a really nice job."

McDonagh, a former Canadiens first-round pick out of the University of Wisconsin, was a main reason the Rangers were able to trade Michal Rozsival for Wojtek Wolski on Jan. 10. He has gelled with Michael Sauer to form a sound second defensive unit, but tonight he will join 26-year-old Dan Girardi, the NHL's leader in blocked shots, on the top pairing. The one-two punch of Staal and Girardi have held Alex Ovechkin to just two assists in the three games played this season, but McDonagh, who has played 21 games in the NHL, isn't fazed by being matched up with the Capitals' top line.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/marc-staals-injury-puts-pressure-on-young-rangers-defense/

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NHL Trade Deadline: Detroit Red Wings

Filed under: Red Wings, Western, Trade Deadline

You never know what wily Red Wings general manager Ken Holland will do at the trading deadline.

But chances are he will keep a low profile. Detroit is a classic example of a team that builds from within, and Holland only has $570,000 to spend.

Since veteran goaltender Chris Osgood is insisting he will back from sports hernia and groin surgery before the playoffs, the Evgeni Nabokov waiver fiasco probably will not have much of an impact on the Wings' Stanley Cup hopes.

Although they lost Patrick Eaves to a lower-body injury this week, the injury-riddled Wings are starting to get some bodies back. So, Holland will likely be trading more for the future than the present. In other words, if he deals, he will obtain mostly draft choices.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/24/nhl-trade-deadline-detroit-red-wings/

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Chris Stewart Wants Avs to Regret Trade

Filed under: Blues, Canucks

VANCOUVER - Chris Stewart is out to prove Peter Stastny right.

Stastny, the former Quebec Nordiques and St. Louis star was highly critical of the Colorado Avalanche for trading Stewart -- one of the NHL's emerging elite power forwards -- to the Blues in a blockbuster deal. In no uncertain terms, Stastny said the Blues got the better players in the deal.

"He's done a lot for the organization," said Stewart. "Everyone respects his opinion and he's definitely entitled to it. I can't really worry about the past. I can only worry about the future and worry about going to be a Blue."

Consider that Stewart's diplomatic response, even though Stastny cast him in a good light. But it's clear Stewart hopes the hall of famer's prediction comes true.

Defenceman Erik Johnson, the former first-overall draft pick who was the centerpiece that went the other way in the deal, has vowed to make the Blues rue the day they unloaded him. Stewart also wants to show the Avs they erred by letting him go.

 

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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/chris-stewart-wants-avs-to-regret-trade/

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Hank Steinbrenner's Backtracking Shows He's Not the Boss

Filed under: Yankees

Some of the things the late George Steinbrenner said were absolutely correct. Others were outrageously wrong. Whatever the case, the real "Boss" of the New York Yankees said what he meant, and he never hustled back to first base when he knew he just slammed a shot into the alley by ripping somebody with his tongue.

Are you listening, Hank?

Apparently not.

I mean, everybody knows what (and who) George's oldest son was referring to this week when Hank Steinbrenner said of the Yankees failing to repeat last season after winning the 2009 World Series: "Some of the players are too busy building mansions and not concentrating on winning."

Not coincidentally, the Yankees' current Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Jackson -- named Derek Jeter -- is in the final stages of building a multimillion dollar mansion in Tampa.

 

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/hank-steinbrenners-backtracking-shows-hes-not-the-boss/

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Cam Newton Character Questions Addressed by Falcons GM at NFL Combine

Filed under: Atlanta Falcons, NFC South

If this was the 2008 draft and the Atlanta Falcons had the third pick in the draft, it is pretty clear they would not take Cameron Newton with that pick, like they did when they took Matt Ryan.

Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff was asked at the NFL Combine about character and personality when evaluating quarterbacks. I'm not trying to make Dimitroff look like a Cam-basher; I'm just interested in his responses because he is a respected GM and I think he's smart as heck.

"To me, it's huge. It was a big part of our interview process with Matt Ryan," Dimitroff said. "We spent a lot of time not only with him physically in Boston, but a lot of time with associates he dealt with. We want him to be the first guy in and the last guy out.

"We want him to have a presence. We want Matt Ryan to lead the entire team. ... That respect was something that Matt was able to obtain right away with the Atlanta Falcons from the defense and offense."

Did Newton hurt his chances to be the No. 1 pick when he said in interviews that he wanted to be "an icon and entertainer."

Dimitroff said it might not raise red flags with some teams, but it might raise red flags with others.

It is pretty clear the Falcons are really leaning on personality and character when drafting players or signing free agents. Dimitroff is not alone here. Teams invest a lot of money in quarterbacks and it is one position where they absolutely cannot make a mistake.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/25/cam-newton-character-questions-addressed-by-falcons-gm-at-nfl-co/

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